Sweet Sakura Tree
by shimo hyozan
Summary: a short Aoshi-Misao fic...I don't know how to summarize this, so you'd just have to read! pls. review! this is my first fic for RK ,alright?


**Author's note:** yup…this is my VERY first RK ficcy. My lame attempt to write one was successful…hehehe…anyway, hope you'll like this sweet one-shot fic I wrote. Comments are most welcomed. Thanks a lot!

**Disclaimer: **geez…I almost forgot to put this! Standard disclaimer thing…I ABSOLUTELY DO NOT OWN Rurouni Kenshin (although I wish I did…) it belongs to its most respectable creators. Thanks again!

Sweet Sakura Tree

By: shimo hyozan

_"where are you taking me, Aoshi-sama?"_

_"somewhere. It's a secret. Don't worry, you'll see"_

_Walking unsurely while being led by the aforementioned man, the blindfolded Misao finally asked "are we there yet? I feel so weird not seeing anything"_

_Aoshi suddenly stopped and prompted "we're here already" he let her hand go and went behind her then untied the piece of cloth that covered her eyes. Once they were off, Misao looked around and her eyes suddenly brightened up._

_"this place is so beautiful! Is this the famous---"_

_"Sakura park" Aoshi cut her off, smiling a bit_

_"wow…" Misao said in astonishment. She held out her hand as a single Sakura petal landed on her palm._

_"I knew you'd like it here, same as I do…"_

_"I love it here, Aoshi-sama. From now on, I dub this as our favorite place to be. Sakura Park" _

Misao opened her eyes as the memory stopped. She was leaning against a tree, a Sakura tree to be more precise. Here she was again, like many countless times. She was at the beautiful Sakura Park.

Whenever she is here, she always thinks of her best friend, Shinomori Aoshi. Nowadays, she always seems to find herself walking towards the said park, as Aoshi had done a year ago. She longed for him, since he was called by Kenshin to help him protect the governor from a serial killer and hasn't returned yet. His absence of almost a month made Misao a little sad and worried.

"oh…Aoshi-sama…I miss you so much…" she whispered to herself "I hope you are well…"

She never knew why she cared for him so much. Maybe it was because he was her best friend or maybe because he took care of her when she was a lot younger or maybe because of a reason she hasn't realized… yet.

Suddenly, she heard something, or she _thought_ she heard something…_call _her.

_"Misao-chan…Misao-chan…"_

She snapped out of her mushy self and grabbed out her daggers, whose blades glinted throughout the area with the help of the moon.

"who's there? Show yourself!" she replied, getting into a defensive stance. She looked around while slowly inching away, still not letting her guard down but then, the intruder got to her first, disarming her from behind and tying a blindfold around her eyes. Her hands her held firmly behind her back as her daggers hit the floor with a dull _clunk_. She tried to wriggle out but to no avail.

"let me go!!!" she said, still moving about

"I don't want to, Misao-chan" a voice from behind spoke at her ear. As she heard the voice, she stopped moving about.

"Hello Misao-chan. Did you miss me? I missed you a lot…" the intruder then let her go gently as Misao quickly took off the blindfold and spun around.

"Aoshi-sama…" she said, completely shocked at the person that stood before her. She didn't hesitate, as she approached and wrapped her arms around him.

"you're back…I'm so happy…" tears of joy started leaking from her eyes as she buried her face on his chest.

"hey, it's okay…" he gently rubbed her back before continuing "of course I came back. I don't want to upset or get you worried"

Misao then calmed down a bit before speaking "but…why just now? Couldn't you make it earlier?"

"The job was accomplished about a week ago and I intentionally scheduled my return for today. Don't you know what day it is today? Don't you remember?"

"it's the 17th of April today. What's the occasion? It isn't your birthday, right?" Misao wondered.

"nope. Today is the day that I first brought you here, remember? A year ago?"

The girl tried to remember and the released an "ahhhh…" as she remembered it perfectly.

"yes. It is good you remember it"

Misao took a step back and smiled at him. He smiled back and took her hands in his and said "come, I want show you something" he pulled her towards the largest Sakura tree that stood in the very middle of the park.

"what is it?" Misao said as they stopped a few inches before the enormous trunk.

"look up" was Aoshi's simple reply

She obeyed and saw the pink Sakura leaves giving off a remarkable glow. Her eyes grew wide as she silently appreciated the tree's beauty and splendor.

"this is one of the reasons why this park is so beautiful and famous. Very few go here since no one really knows the exact location of it…"

She walked around the tree, still looking up. Making one turn around, she returned to her starting point and stood there. She suddenly jumped as she felt a pair of arms entwine themselves around her waist.

"Aoshi-sama…"

"Misao-chan. I'll make a promise to you, right here, under this Sakura Tree. I promise to you that I'll always inform you whenever I'm out for a job, so that you won't worry yourself on me…" he gently laid his head on her shoulder as he relaxed. A soft breeze swept across the entire park, giving it a calm and relaxing atmosphere. Misao looked to her side to see Aoshi's eyes shut. She reached out a hand to his cheek and caressed it softly.

"thank you, Aoshi-sama…" she whispered

"for what?" Aoshi said through closed eyes

"for everything. Being my best friend, caring for me…I thank you so much for all that you've done…" she glanced to her side to see a smile slowly forming at the leader of the Oniwa Banshu's lips. She too smiled, as her hands rested atop his.

The Sakura Tree also seemed to smile sweetly down at them, as the countless glowing lights caused by the fireflies glowed more and several petals fell down and rode with the wind.


End file.
